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Undergraduate Program

Undergraduate Program Requirements

Described below are the key requirements for the Philosophy major and minor.

Major Program Requirements (effective Fall 2002): Philosophy majors are required to complete 33 credits in philosophy, ten courses beyond the introductory course required by the college, and to pass the comprehensive examination in philosophy (see description below). Majors are required to take the following core courses:

  • PI Logic and Inquiry (PHL 101)
  • PII Logic and Inquiry (PHL 201)
  • PII Ethics (PHL 211)
  • Three of four historically oriented courses
    (Ancient Philosophy (PHL 320 or PHL 325), Medieval Philosophy (PHL 330) Modern Philosophy (PHL 340), Contemporary Philosophy (PHL 350))
  • At least one departmental Honors Seminar

Philosophy majors are strongly encouraged to take at least one course in each of the following areas: ancient or medieval literature, ancient or medieval history, a classical language (Greek or Latin), and Old or New Testament Literature.

In addition, Philosophy majors are expected to attend Department Colloquoia.

Philosophy Minor Requirements: For students majoring in another area, a philosophy minor consists of 18 credits including the college philosophy requirement (PHL 101).

Senior Comprehensive Examination: Each philosophy major is required to write a substantial philosophical essay (3500 words), the topic of which is selected with departmental advisement, and defend that thesis publicly within the final semester of course work (as part of the Department's Colloquium Series). The comprehensive examination is a graduation requirement; the candidate will receive one of five possible grades: fail, low pass, pass, high pass, and pass with distinction.

Past Comprehensive Examination Titles

  • 'The Ethics of Freedom:  A Comparative Essay on the Moral Philosophy of Kant and Sartre'
  • 'Miracles, A Philosophical Conception:  Hume, Aquinas, and Kant on the Miraculous'
  • 'Confronting Mortality:  Socrates, Camus and Kafka on Death and Suicide'
  • 'Overcoming Human Nature'
  • 'Who Are We?  An Analysis of How Human Nature Shapes Personal Identity'
  • 'How to Treat a Recalcitrant Patient/Student: Reflections on Medicine and Philosophy'
  • 'The More You Understand, The More You Realize You Don't Understand'
  • 'Impediments to Wisdom: Insights into the Body-Soul Problem'
  • 'Avoiding Error: Recognizing the Finitude of Understanding'
  • 'Fear and Anxiety in Dostoyevsky's Writings: A Comparative Analysis'
  • 'Problem Solving and Contemplation'
  • 'Self Improvement and the Active Moral Philosophy: A Search for the Moral Standard'
  • 'Knowing the Way to the Marketplace: An Examination of Humans in Society'
  • 'The Mystery of Evil'
  • 'The Problem of Opposites: Unity, Interdependence, and the Role of Consciousness'
  • 'Philosophical Proofs of God'
  • 'The Development of Friendship in Human Nature through the Character of Love'
  • 'Philosophy: Doctrine or Activity?'
  • 'Free Will and Dostoyevsky's 'Underground Man''
  • 'Concerning the Problem of Innate Ideas'
  • 'On the Problem of Evil'
  • 'Ownership and Labor'
  • 'Injustice as Illness: Plato and Dostoyevsky'
  • 'Literature and Moral Philosophy'

Philosophy Department Award: The Philosophy Award honors an outstanding graduating student of Philosophy. The selection of the recipient is based upon the student's presentation of an original paper in a department colloquium (as part of the Senior Comprehensive Exam); performance in philosophy classes throughout the student's course of study at Nazareth College; and the student's contribution to the philosophical life of the department.

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